President Donald Trump said he would look into deporting billionaire Elon Musk in response to a question about the ally-turned-critic of his signature tax and spending legislation.
“I don’t know,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday when asked if he would deport the South African-born entrepreneur and US citizen, before adding that “we’ll have to take a look.”
The president’s comments are the latest salvo in a renewed feud between Trump and the world’s richest person, who has ramped up his criticism of a Republican tax bill that expedites the end of a consumer credit for electric vehicle purchases. Musk is the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla Inc., whose shares weaken more than 4 percent in premarket trading.
Trump has attributed Musk’s opposition to the bill to elimination of subsidies that his many business ventures benefit from. Earlier Tuesday, Trump took to social media, threatening to withdraw subsidies from Musk’s companies, a warning he reiterated to reporters.
The president said Musk was “losing his EV mandate” and added that “Elon could lose a lot more than that.”
The EV mandate generally is a reference to a suite of fuel economy standards and tailpipe-pollution limits that effectively compel automakers to sell an increasing number of electric models.
The administration has moved to unwind those policies, which are untouched by the measure pending in the Senate. However, the tax-and-spending measure would end a tax credit for individual electric vehicle purchases that has helped boost EV sales.
Musk has lambasted the Republican legislation, calling it an “insane spending bill” and threatened to help create a third political party in the US. He has denied, however, that his opposition is based on preserving government subsidies for his companies.
Musk threw his support behind Trump in the 2024 election and went on to serve as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency effort that worked to slash the federal government’s workforce and responsibilities before departing in late May.
The two had a public falling out over Musk’s criticisms of the tax bill, trading insults on social media. While that fight appeared to have cooled, Musk in recent days has posted repeated attacks on the legislation, reigniting their fight.
“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” Trump said about the federal cost-cutting effort. “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn’t that be terrible?”
